As a sovereign nation, the Senecas’ downtown casino will pay NO Federal or State income tax, NO local real estate taxes and NO sales taxes.

Even though they will not be paying taxes, they want $6 million in road improvements, traffic signals and sewers to come from your tax dollars.

The Senecas are now looking for additional tax breaks for a golf course that is not even on casino property.

$150 million is expected to be pulled from the local community by our new “partner.”

According to the Senecas’ 10K filing, the primary source for this money is you and your neighbors living in Buffalo and its surrounding suburbs.

They say a new casino will attract tourists, yet the Senecas’ SEC filings clearly describe their intent for the Buffalo casino is to “target the local Buffalo market and its suburbs.” (Source: Seneca Gaming Corporation’s SEC 10-K Filings, 2006)

Most casinos attract 80% or more of their market from a 35-50 mile radius. Casinos absorb existing entertainment, restaurant and hotel business, as well as deplete dollars available to other retail businesses. That destroys other jobs in the trade area and eliminates their sales, employment and property-tax contributions. (Source: Grinols, Earl L. “Gambling in America, Costs and Benefits,” p.p. 55-92)

A casino within 10 miles of a home yields a 90% increased risk of its occupants becoming pathological or problem gamblers. (Source: Welte, John W.; Wieczorek, William F.; Barnes, Grace M.; Hoffman, Joseph H. Reference cited in  “The Relationship of Ecological and Geographic Factors to Gambling Behavior and Pathology” p.15)

It takes three to five years for gamblers in a newly opened market to exhaust their resources. The most recent study of all the casino counties in the nation confirmed personal bankruptcy rates are 100% higher in counties with casinos than in counties without casinos. (Source: Gross, Ernie and Morse, Edward. “The Impact of Casino Gambling on Bankruptcy Rates: A County Level Analysis.” p. 1)

A study of addicted gamblers revealed, “Between 20% and 30% of the respondents made actual suicide attempts. No other addictive population has had as high a prevalence for attempts.” (Source: Widgery, Robin, President of Social Systems. “Warning: Legal Gambling is a Costly Game.” 1994 edition)

Gambling costs more than raising taxes, even for those who NEVER gamble! Each compulsive gambler costs the economy between $14,006 and $22,077 per year. (Source: Grinols, Earl L., “Cutting the Cards and Craps, right thinking about gambling economics.” p. 14)

When gambling appears in a community, it brings a wave of addiction. In a mature gambling market, compulsive gambling typically seizes the lives of 1.5% to 2.5% of the adult population. That translates to potentially 4,884 compulsive gamblers in the City of Buffalo alone. (Source: Shaffer, Howard, Harvard University addictions department, quoted by Kindt in Managerial and Decision Economics, 22: p.p. 17-63; U.S. Census Bureau 2004 American Community Survey.)